1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fabrication of semiconductor wafers. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus and method for employing nitrogen oxide (NO) or N2O gases to dope silicon dioxide in a furnace at high temperatures to form oxides and oxynitrides layers on a semiconductor for gate dielectrics.
2. Description of Related Art
The ability to use silicon dioxide (SiO2) as the gate dielectric material becomes extremely difficult for thickness (tOX) less than twenty (20) angstroms (xc3x85). Thickness as small as 20 angstroms are required for device scaling with channel lengths less than 0.25 microns (xcexcm). For thickness less than twenty angstroms, leakage currents may approach 1 A/cm2. This is significant when compared to leakages on the order of 1(10xe2x88x9212) A/cm2 for thickness tOX greater than 40 angstroms. Thus having a thickness on the order of twenty angstroms may produce prohibitive power consumption of the transistors in the off-state, and reliability concerns through lifetime degradation, i.e., device lifetimes less than ten (10) years.
The leakage current is caused by direct tunneling of electrons from the polysilicon gate electrode through the gate oxide. Boron from the doped poly-silicon gate easily penetrates the thin SiO2 layer causing large Vt shifts and more reliability problems. Boron doped poly-silicon gate electrodes are required to avoid depletion effects which will also cause large Vt shifts and higher threshold voltages. Silicon oxynitrides (SiOxNy) or nitrogen (N) doped SiO2 have been chosen by most integrated circuit chip manufacturers as the material of choice to replace SiO2 for gate dielectrics in the thickness range of 15 to 20 angstroms. The beneficial effects of nitrogen incorporation are dependent upon the magnitude of the doping and the distribution of the doping profile relative to both the Si/SiO2 interface and the poly-silicon gate/SiO2 interface. If the nitrogen doping is engineered correctly, leakage current and boron penetration can be reduced, while minimizing or negating the impact on threshold voltage Vt and channel electron mobility. Additionally, hot-electron defect generation in the silicon channel can be reduced by nitrogen gettering of hydrogen (H). These effects make scaling the gate dielectric down to fifteen (15) angstroms viable, while minimizing the impact on process integration that would occur by changing the gate dielectric to a high dielectric constant (K) material system; the high-K material being different material than the SiO2. The ability to correctly engineer the nitrogen dopant profile is absent in the prior art.
Oxides and oxynitrides for gate dielectrics are typically grown in atmospheric (or reduced pressure) furnaces, where the gas is pre-combusted through a torch injector pre-tube outside of the main process tube. The resultant product is then delivered to the main process tube for reaction with wafers that are pre-processed up to the gate dielectric layer. Typical torch combustion chambers are engineered to preheat gas up to 850xc2x0 C. for combustion of O2 and H2 to form H2O and O2. H2O is a critical reactant for wet oxidation in the formation of high quality gate oxides, and has been used extensively as such by the semiconductor industry. The torch is also used to combust chlorine containing sources to provide high purity atomic chlorine that is used as a metal getterer in the furnace process chamber which, along with nitrogen oxide (NO), are the two gases that can be used to thermally grow or anneal high quality oxynitride films. However, torches have not been engineered for N2O combustion. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,791, issued to Wang, et al., entitled, xe2x80x9cMULTI-LAYER SILICON NITRIDE DEPOSITION METHOD FOR FORMING LOW OXIDATION TEMPERATURE THERMALLY OXIDIZED SILICON NITRIDE/SILICON OXIDE (NO) LAYER,xe2x80x9d a method for forming a silicon nitride/silicon oxide (NO) layer within a microelectronics fabrication was introduced. In order to form these layers, Wang uses two deposition methods within the same deposition reactor chamber, with the first deposition method separated from the second deposition method by a vacuum purge of the deposition reactor chamber to assure that the second silicon nitride layer is formed as a discrete silicon nitride layer upon the first silicon nitride layer. Each of the nitride layers in the Wang art are formed through a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. By implementing a higher temperature outside the main process tube (chamber), the instant invention eliminates, among other things, the vacuum purge of the deposition reactor chamber.
Nitrogen oxide is not typically used since it requires additional safety apparatus due to its toxicity. It can also produce certain undesirable electrical properties of the device, such as low electron channel mobility, large voltage threshold shifts, and hotelectron degradation effects.
The present invention introduces a thermal nitrogen dopant tuner and its ability to make use of the N2O decomposition mechanisms to fabricate transistors with thickness in the ten to twenty angstrom regime.
Bearing in mind the problems and deficiencies of the prior art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for utilizing N2O decomposition mechanisms to make transistors with thickness as small as ten to twenty angstroms.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for using SiO2 as a gate dielectric material for thickness on the order of 10-20 xc3x85.
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method for having a substrate with a gate dielectric thickness less than 20 xc3x85 without producing prohibitive power consumption due to leakage current losses.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for developing nitrogen doped SiO2 substrate layers to replace SiO2 layers as gate dielectrics with thickness on the order of 10-20 xc3x85.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method for reducing leakage current and boron penetration of the SiO2 layer while negating the impact on threshold voltage and channel electron mobility.
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method for scaling gate dielectrics down to the 10-20 xc3x85 regime while minimizing the impact on process integration.
Still other advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.
The above and other advantages, which will be apparent to one of skill in the art, are achieved in the present invention which is directed to, in a first aspect, a method of forming an insulating layer on a substrate comprising pre-combustion of nitrogen containing gas outside a furnace having a main chamber, the pre-combustion performed at a temperature higher than that within the main chamber, wherein the nitrogen containing gas includes N2O or NO.
In a second aspect, the instant invention is directed to a method of tuning the magnitude of nitrogen doped profiles for an oxynitride insulator on a substrate, the method comprising: providing the substrate at a first temperature within a main chamber; exposing the substrate to a nitrogen containing gas at a second temperature which is higher than the first temperature; and, growing the insulator on the substrate in the presence of the gas. The exposing step further comprises heating the nitrogen containing gas to the second temperature in a second chamber outside the main chamber and directing the heated nitrogen containing gas to the main chamber. The method further comprises heating chlorine and steam gas to a combustion temperature and transferring the chlorine and steam gas to the second chamber. The heating is accomplished by applying a torch heating element to the chlorine and steam gas in a third chamber separate from the main and second chambers. The second temperature is in the range of 800 to 1200xc2x0 C., preferably 950xc2x0 C. The first temperature is in the range 600 to 1100xc2x0 C., or preferably in the range 600 to 800xc2x0 C. The second temperature is sufficient to react with the gas before it reacts with the substrate. The second temperature is adjusted to tailor an amount of nitrogen concentration in the insulating layer.
In a third aspect, the instant invention is directed to a method for employing a nitrogen containing gas to form an insulation film on a semiconductor, comprising: combusting chlorine and steam gas in a first chamber; transporting the combusted chlorine and steam gas to a second chamber; applying heat to the second chamber to the chlorine and steam gas; removing the chlorine and steam gas from the second chamber to a third chamber, and introducing nitrogen containing gas to the second chamber from the first chamber; applying heat to the second chamber to the nitrogen containing gas; transferring the nitrogen containing gas to a third chamber containing the semiconductor; and, applying heat to the third chamber at a temperature level sufficient to initiate a gas-semiconductor reaction wherein a the insulation film is formed on the semiconductor.
In a fourth aspect, the instant invention is directed to a method for distributing a nitrogen containing gas to form an insulation film on a semiconductor, comprising: providing the semiconductor within a main process tube; pre-heating N2O gas outside the main process tube; delivering the N2O gas to a gas manifold; splitting the N2O gas flow through the gas manifold to direct the N2O gas to gas injectors attached to the main process tube; and, distributing the N2O gas through the injectors to the main process tube housing the semiconductor.
In a fifth aspect, the instant invention is directed to an apparatus for forming an insulating layer on a substrate comprising: a furnace including: a first chamber having a first heating element for combusting chlorine and steam gas at a first temperature; a second chamber having a second heating element, the second chamber adapted to receive the chlorine and steam gas and separately a nitrogen containing gas at a second temperature; and, a third chamber having a third heating element at a third temperature adapted to react separately the gases from the second chamber with the substrate to grow the insulating layer. The second temperature is higher than the third temperature, such that the combined gases from the second chamber enter the third chamber at a higher temperature than the third temperature. The first heating element comprises a torch. The second heating element may also be comprised of a torch.
In a sixth aspect, the instant invention is directed to an apparatus for distributing a nitrogen containing gas to form an insulation film on a semiconductor, comprising: a furnace main process tube adapted for gas injection within the tube and securing the semiconductor; a heating element outside the main process tube for preheating a nitrogen containing gas; a gas manifold adapted to receive and deliver the pre-heated nitrogen containing gas to gas injectors attached to the main process tube; the gas injectors adapted to distribute the nitrogen containing gas to the semiconductor. The gas injectors include at least two injectors within the main process tube.